Chuck Doswell's

Photography Page

All the images contained herein are copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. They arenot to be reproduced in any form without my expressed permission.Please avoid messy copyright infringement lawsuits and do me the courtesy of contacting me at cdoswell@earthlink.net for information regarding their use. See here for details

NOTICE: These images have been scanned from original slides, with some digital enhancement (touch-ups of dirt on the slides when scanned, and some enhancement of the original scanned images to make them look more like the original slides).I do not alter my images digitallyto put in things thatwere notoriginally in the image or remove things thatwereoriginally in the image, and I do not make digital composites. I am personally opposed to such image manipulations unless they are admitted to clearly and obviously.

Last updated: 26 March 1998 (above notice added)

Websurfer's Biweekly Earth Science Review

My original forays into amateur photography began in Viet Nam and it has quickly evolved into a serious hobby. I have provided some photo tips and some basic photographic concepts for anyone interested in outdoor photography. I also have some images that can be bought from the NSSL/SPC Employees Association (see their gallery for a selection).

As a storm chaser, it was quite natural for this hobby to cross over into my work, documenting clouds, like this one, showing crepuscular rays:

or this one, with a backlit towering cumulus:

or this one, illustrating the beauty of a cumulonimbus lit by alpenglow:

or this one showing wave clouds over the Front Ranges of the Rocky Mountains from my former home in Longmont, Colorado:

and storms, such as this one near Lamesa, Texas:

or this tornado near Archer City, Texas:

or this dusty tornado near Alfalfa, Oklahoma:

or this tornado in the process of leaving Union City, Oklahoma:

or this multicell storm near El Dorado, Texas:

or these mammatus clouds near Fairview, Oklahoma:

or a tornado near Hodges, Texas:

In doing this, it quickly became clear that existing materials for spotter training (in the late 1970s) were woefully inadequate, so some colleagues and I got together and used some of our pictures to develop a basic storm spotters slide program:

for NOAA. We followed this up with an advanced storm spotter's slide program:

for NOAA a few years later. This work has been particularly gratifying since it has combined my hobby with my career in a way to benefit others; there can be no doubt that these spotter training materials have helped volunteer spotters save lives in their communities.

I also enjoy photographing lightning like this example:

This is more of a fun thing than my cloud photography, which has served my serious science, as well as indulging my photographic hobbyist's interest.

The plains

Getting out onto the plains of the U.S. during storm chasing has acquainted me with a lot of real estate in the central U.S., and I have developed a deep love for the plains in any season, collecting images such as the following:

A nice prairie sunset in Oklahoma:

Tall grass near Black Mesa State Park in the Oklahoma panhandle:

Wildflowers and a thunderstorm near Black Mesa:

A delightfully empty Texas prairie:

A plowed field and an abandoned farmhome near Childress, Texas:

Additional weather- and plains-related images can be found in my spring storm-chase summaries ... for 1995, 1996, and 1997 currently. I also have a home Website with more images available there.

Travel

While travelling about the world as a professional scientist, I have had a chance to see and photograph many interesting locations, including places like Prague in the Czech Republic (Prague Castle, at night):

or Sydney, Australia (the famous Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge):

or Tokyo, Japan (in the Imperial Gardens):

Recently, on a visit to San Francisco State University, I was able to see the foggy marine layer of the eastern Pacific spilling over the coastal mountains, a treat combining business and pleasure:

One of the advantages to meteorology is that it happens everywhere in the world, so if you can convince someone you need to go there, it's possible to see a lot of the world. I have recently had a visit to Mallorca and images from the trip can be found here.

Fun Photography

Finally, there are some pure fun things that I do with photography! Here's a plant species unique to the Wichita Mountains of southwestern Oklahoma:

This is an interesting image often seen on a sunny day here in the southern plains:

Once in awhile I make a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park:

and I've been to Kananaskis Park, in Alberta, Canada, too:

Go to Chuck Doswell's Home Photography Page